14.09.2011

ADDRESS OF MR MEVLÜT ÇAVUŞOĞLU,

PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

ON THE OCCASION OF THE 8th YALTA ANNUAL MEETING -

UKRAINE AND THE WORLD: COMMON CHALLENGES, COMMON FUTURE

ROUND TABLE ON “HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY IN WIDER EUROPE”

YALTA, Ukraine, Saturday 17 September 2011, 10.00 a.m.

Excellencies, dear colleagues, friends,

First of all, I would like to express my immense pleasure at sitting on this particular panel. The geographical, political and religious diversity of Europe is represented here, some may even say our “visual” diversity.

Europe is one, but an extremely diverse one. Therefore, let me, for the sake of launching a discussion, challenge the term “Wider Europe” in the title of our debate. In my view, there is neither “closer” nor “wider” Europe. Europe is one – we share the same history, the destinies of our nations are inter-twined, some of our nations lived together for hundreds of years only to separate later. Populations moved and were moved, and with them their religion, customs and ways of life.

The history of Europe has also been marked by the world’s most terrible conflicts and tragedies. The decisions taken here in Yalta in 1945, in this very palace, brought a lasting peace to the European continent. However, these decisions did not bring freedom to all Europe, which came only 44 years later to some of us.

Yalta decisions in 1945 were “real politics”, heeding national interests. In contrast, the decision taken in 1949 to put fundamental human values at the heart of Europe’s future and to create the Council of Europe - based on democracy, human rights and the rule of law - was taken in the interest of the people.

It is very important to understand that these fundamental values are not the aim in itself, but a means to ensure long-lasting peace and prosperity. Their respect creates a general framework for all human activity and general well-being. Thanks to these principles, and despite existing shortcomings, Europe has lived the most prosperous and peaceful period since the beginning of its history.

In this respect, the Council of Europe model – human rights standard setting with its own enforcement mechanisms, has been a huge success.

Dear friends,

Although successful, we have not been able to prevent the evils that our societies are going through right now: economic crisis, erosion of the social protection mechanisms, growing intolerance and violence. We have neither been able to eradicate international terrorism and organised crime, nor make a significant progress in stopping further climate change.

Furthermore, new powers are emerging in a global world and the balance of power is shifting. Despite undeniable economic success, the political models of these new global players are not necessarily the same as ours, nor are their values. Europe has therefore to reassert itself in this new environment, without making concessions on the democratic “acquis” of European citizens.

Therefore, instead of praising our past achievements, the discussions of this round table must be about the future. And if we speak about challenges to human rights and democracy – and let us not be mistaken here – all European countries face these challenges, even though in a different order of priority.

True, in many formerly communist countries, the proper functioning of democratic institutions and full respect of the rule of law is still a great challenge. Quite understandably – building a fully-fledged democracy is a process which has taken hundreds of years in some countries! Obviously, we do not have to wait that long these days - should I say because the Council of Europe is there to help?

But more seriously, the Council of Europe, with our legal instruments, political clout, specific mechanisms and experience, contributes enormously to the continuing democratisation of our societies. We observe elections, help in drafting crucial legislation, help maintain political dialogue between conflicting parties, train justice officials, just to name a few.

In order that our help, and sometimes even criticism, be accepted, we have to build our relations on partnership, strict respect of equality and avoiding double standards. Nobody is perfect and we should be frank and open in our dialogue – but always as friends and partners.

Dear friends,

Our common European home must be built on an open society based on respect for diversity and not on exclusion, not on discrimination, not on fear and certainly not on hatred. I regret to say that intolerance in Europe is on the rise again and, therefore, fighting intolerance and discrimination has been my priority as President of the Assembly. In our Assembly, we have invested a lot of effort in developing inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue in order to promote understanding among people of different origins.

Finally, allow me to say, that, in my mind, “wider” Europe is associated rather with countries which are our neighbours, but beyond the strictly geographical frontiers of Europe. Our Assembly is pursuing a strategy of bringing non-member states closer to the Council of Europe and to our standards. In the wave of the Arab revolutions, we have even intensified our efforts. We have established a new status, called “Partnership for Democracy”, for the Parliaments of neighbouring non-member states. The Parliament of Morocco has recently been granted this status, the Palestinian National Council is likely to receive it during our October plenary session and other countries are currently considering making such a request, Kazakhstan and Kirgizstan, for example.

These are the thoughts that I wanted to share with you at the beginning of our panel and I look forward to discussing them further with you.

Thank you for your attention.